Monday Morning Quarterback - Week 5

It was a disappointing week for my picks. At 5-2 with two of the 1 o'clock games remaining, Tampa Bay-Cincinnati and Washington-Green Bay, it looked like 7-2 was a real possibility; Green Bay was up 3 and Cincinnati was up 7 with just a few minutes remaining. However, Green Bay allowed Washington to tie the game and then lost in overtime, and Carson Palmer threw 2 interceptions in the final 3:17 that resulted in 10 Buccaneer points and a Bengal loss. So, instead of 7-2, I went 5-4 after the 1 o'clock games, and the 4 o'clock games and the night game were all losses, so week 5 stands at a disastrous 5-8 with a pick of the Jets over the Vikings tonight.

So, besides my picks blowing up in my face, what else happened in week 5?

After being embarrassed in weeks 2 and 3 by the Colts and Titans, the Giants have looked very formidable in beating the Bears and Texans in the last 2 weeks. The Giants pass rush has looked especially strong as they racked up 3 more sacks of Texans QB Matt Schaub following their 10 sack performance against the Bears in week 4.

The Chiefs, led by their gurus from New England, managed to frustrate Peyton Manning and the Colts all day, keeping the Colts out of the endzone until RB Michael Hart scored on an 11 yard TD run with 4:02 to go. Unfortunately, for the Chiefs, they were stymied by the Colts defense, especially after holding the Chiefs to a field goal after Manning threw an interception deep in Indianapolis territory.

The 49ers loss to the Eagles last night puts them at 0-5 and highly unlikely to make the playoffs. The only saving grace for the 49ers is that they have 5 division games remaining, but at 0-5 that is probably not enough. The 49ers are not the only team I have serious doubts about, however. San Diego is 2-3, 0-3 on the road, and they go on the road to St. Louis next week. Cincinnati, another 2-3 team, has a defense that should keep them in games, but Carson Palmer is struggling to move the offense and put up points. Dallas, 1-3, wasted a great comeback effort in falling to Tennessee, and now faces a must win next week in Minnesota. If Minnesota loses to the Jets tonight and falls to 1-3, then next week's Dallas-Minnesota game is pretty much an elimination game.